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Voudon

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Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion

Voudon (Haiti), also known as Voodoo, or Voudou, is the national folk religion of Haiti. Voudon is practiced in Haiti and the Haitian diaspora and is distinct but not inseparable from United States Louisiana Voodoo, also known as New Orleans Voodoo, which it is often confused with, especially as both share strong West African Dahomeyan roots that became synthesized with Francophone culture and Catholicism. A form of Voudon is also practiced in the South Carolina low country. Voudon religion should not be confused with Hoodoo, or root work, a folk magical tradition that is a loose amalgam of Congo with Christian and indigenous American elements that uses gris-gris, or magical ingredients, to elicit specific results, such as luck, protection, love, or revenge (Fig. 1).

Voudon, Fig. 1
figure 221 figure 221

Voudon ceremony preparations in Jacmel, Haiti, 2002. Public domain (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:JacmelVodou.jpg)

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Correspondence to Alexander (Alejandro) V. Gonzalez .

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Gonzalez, A.(.V. (2020). Voudon. In: Leeming, D.A. (eds) Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-24348-7_9131

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